


Orochimaru's New Pets

by Varmint (orphan_account)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Borderline crack, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Human Experimentation, Humor, Kiba is Not Too Happy, Love Triangles, M/M, Missions Gone Wrong, Naruto Doesn't Mind, Not Serious, Out of Character, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-07-19 23:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7382458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Varmint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Orochimaru has grown tired of Sasuke. Although he is eager for his new vessel to be strong, he needs a more... considerate pet. So he decides he shall kidnap those pesky genin that cost him his new body. And he shall render them pliant by performing choice experiments on them. </p><p>Funnier than it sounds!</p><p>UPDATED!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Are you sure this is where we're supposed to be going, Kiba?"

"Naruto, who here has the incredibly sharp sense of smell, akin to that of Kakashi Sensei's ninken?"

"Well... Uh... You, Kiba, but..."

"Exactly. And who here is the loud mouthed blonde that can't do squat without tripping on his face?"

"Hey!"

Shikamaru sighed heavily as Naruto then began to yell at Kiba, who returned the blonde's insults tenfold. Why did he have to be stuck with both loud mouthed idiots on this mission?

Right... Because the Hokage was one scary lady that made sure to make her power obvious to any that tried to oppose her.

"Well you lost to me in the chunin exams!"

"Because you used cheap tricks that incapacitated me, you good for nothing-"

"Kiba! Naruto!"

Thank Kami Neji had been sent with them as well. If not for the level headed Hyuga, Shikamaru was sure he would have abandoned his teammates and just left the mission _hours_ ago.

"Come on, you idiots, I'm not here to hear you bicker. I'm here to help you get rid of stupid Sound Ninja and then go back to the Sand as the one that destroyed the most." Kankuro growled at the two arguing boys, already tired and annoyed with their horrible dynamic.

They were _always_ arguing. No matter what the other did, where they went, or what they said, the other would always jump at the chance to insult them. And Naruto was such a doofus that he always fell into Kiba's verbal traps.

"So troublesome..." Shikamaru sighed when Kiba and Naruto's anger turned onto the puppeteer.

Even with how much they argued with one another, they always seemed to be able to work together flawlessly when both had been threatened. If Chouji had been here, Shikamaru was sure he would have found the whole situation amusing. After all, seeing two kids try to tear each other's throats out one second then gang up to hurt another the next would have been humorous to most people. But not to Shikamaru.

As Kiba jumped onto Kankuro's back while Naruto readied a fist at the taller teen's face, all the while Kankuro began to raise his hands to grab at Karasu, Neji stepped up to the group with lightning fast speed and hit them all in precise points of the body. All the boys stopped struggling the moment those gentle fists connected with their bodies, and soon enough they had fallen into a heap on the floor.

"I thought this was supposed to be a stealth mission." Neji stated simply as he glared coolly at the collection of idiots as he crossed his arms. "But you three are making so much noise that I highly doubt enemy ninjas have _not_ heard us."

All three boys groaned as their bodies stung, then Naruto yelled, "What's the big idea, Neji? That really hurt!"

"Yeah, Neji! That was totally uncalled for!" Kiba shouted afterwards, but received a sharp glare from the Hyuga himself.

"Did I not just scold you idiots for being too loud? Would you just shut up and stop being complete dumb asses for at least _one second_?" The long haired teen hissed at both of the younger males, actually growing irritated with their belligerent behavior.

Naruto seemed about ready to answer with an insult of his own while Kiba's snarl seemed to become a bit more feral, but Shikamaru stepped forward before they could say anything else. "Shut up." He stated simply, then found his attention taken from the pile of stupid on the floor to instead be directed at the trees that surrounded their small campsite.

They were rather close to the Sound Village's borders. They had known this would be a dangerous mission from the get go, but they had also known it was their duty as Leaf Shinobi to do as their Hokage asked of them. Once more Shikamaru had been sent as the leader of the squad, but Kankuro had been dispatched from the Hidden Sand to aid them in the grueling difficulties they would eventually meet.

But until now, they had not met any kind of opposition. And because of this, they had gotten careless. Undoubtedly, Kiba and Naruto's squabbling would have drawn the attention of some Sound Nin. They could only hope it hadn't been any Jonin level enemies. They weren't equipped for that. They were only equipped to acquire reconnaissance on their enemies, no matter what Kankuro and Naruto wished for.

"Kiba, do you smell any new scents?" Shikamaru immediately asked as he swore he saw a leaf rustle in the trees.

The dog nin looked at him for a moment, then moved his chin upwards to sniff at the air. After he had done this, his eyes narrowed and he nodded softly. "We're surrounded, Shika."

Both Naruto and Kankuro's faces sobered up after Kiba had told them his observations, but Shikamaru could only begin to wrack his head for a way to escape what was undoubtedly an ambush unscathed. Neji moved his body just slightly so he was standing in front of the heap of his comrades, inwardly cursing himself for having hurt them at such a crucial moment.

Then again, if they hadn't been acting like idiots, maybe they wouldn't have found themselves in such a dangerous spot...

Shikamaru moved himself so he stood at an angle to Neji, his own body covering what he could of the heap of the three idiots on the floor. His eyes scanned the forest around them, all the while slowly moving his hand to grab at his kunai pouch to be able to defend himself.

Unfortunately, before he was able to grab the small piece of weaponry, the young boy felt something sting the left side of his neck. He raised his hand to see what it was, then found a small object protruding from his neck.

"Shikamaru?" Neji asked wide eyed as he turned to look at the only chunin around, only to see him taking something out of his neck.

Both teens looked at the small projectile that had hit Shikamaru and their stomachs dropped. Sleep darts.

"Shit." Was the only thing Shikamaru was able to say before his eyes began to blink rapidly and his body began to sway.

When Neji moved to try and help his comrade, he was stopped by a sharp sting in his own neck. And he knew then that he too had been hit with the same sleep dart. As he felt the effects of the sleeping mixture used, Neji cursed being stuck with the dumb teammates that had most probably called the enemy to them because of their incessant yelling.

He could only hope that they would get tortured before him.


	2. Chapter 2

"... What... What happened?" Kiba groaned as he woke up with a pounding headache and with his vision blurred.

He couldn't remember much of what had happened... He had argued with Naruto, as always. Then Kankuro had opened up his big mouth, so he and Naruto had called a truce and started to insult the dumb make up wearing jerk. After that... What had happened after Naruto and he had ganged up on Kankuro?

The boy was at a complete loss as he wracked his brain for information. But after a few seconds of trying, nothing but annoyance at Naruto and Kankuro for being complete idiots came up.

With a huff, the teen moved to cross his arms over his chest and cross his legs- he was apparently sitting down- but was stopped by his foot suddenly hitting something solid with a dull thud. Arching one eyebrow, Kiba couldn't help but try to look at whatever his foot had hit. But he was immersed in complete darkness at the moment, so he wasn't able to see whatever it was.

Even though he had no idea what he could be hitting with his foot, Kiba decided to try and smack it again. If it was a person, they would eventually wake up. If it wasn't then Kiba would be left alone in this odd space. And if it was a dangerous hybrid of the two... Well, Kiba had lived a nice life.

Moving his foot back slightly, the dog nin brought it back to the object he had hit before with full force. A sharp yelp escaped whoever was there and Kiba could feel his foot come into contact with what must have been a soft body. So, by rule of deduction, it wasn't either bony bodied Shikamaru, sturdy bodied Neji, or the muscled idiot named Naruto.

"... Kankuro?" The boy called out with wide eyes, peering into the absolute darkness in curiosity.

"Dumb son of a bitch!"

Kiba's widened eyes slanted and his face soon merged into a unimpressed frown, then he nodded to himself. "Kankuro." He muttered more to himself than the person with him, nodding. He crossed his arms fully over his chest then, a bit less worried now that he knew he wasn't alone in this darkened space.

"Why did you kick me, mutt?" Kankuro's voice growled from the darkness, which didn't surprise the dog nin at all.

Kankuro always seemed to be angry at everything Kiba did. And Kiba honestly believed that he needed was to get over himself and stop being so damned annoying if he ever wanted to have friends that _weren't_ related to him.

"Because I wanted to make sure you weren't a wall." Kiba answered with a shrug, then shifted slightly to the left, only to find his shoulder hit what could have been a body. "That's odd..."

He could hear more grumbles coming from Kankuro's direction, but he didn't really care. Whoever must have been to his left must have been a thousand times less annoying than Kankuro. So he uncrossed his arms and raised his right to the body beside him, then poked at it.

"What's odd?" Kankuro asked, but Kiba only ignored him. He was more interested in the new mystery he had stumbled upon.

In retrospect, instead of poking every body he managed to find, he should have been thinking about a way to get out of this dark place. But he was too happy trying to solve his made up mysteries, so he didn't really care about what he _should_ have been doing.

This time, he found his poke received by a more muscular body. So it must have been either Naruto or Neji... He really hoped it wasn't Naruto.

"Yo. Wake up." Kiba poked at the arm beside him, hoping against hope that it _wasn't_ the blonde doofus. "Don't leave me alone with the drag queen over there."

"You are just eager to get your ass kicked, aren't you?"

"Nobody was talking to you, drag queen." Kiba bit back at Kankuro, then resumed poking the person beside him. "Hello. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."

"Kiba, you're getting anno-"

"Once more, drag queen, nobody cares. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."

By the twentieth poke, the body beside Kiba's began to stir. And from the lack of begging for more time to sleep, Kiba deducted it must have been Neji.

"Hey, Neji. Welcome to the land of the living." Kiba said with a smile, then asked, "Do you know why we're stuck in this place with make up guy?"

"It's war paint!" Kankuro yelled from his spot in the darkness, but Kiba only rolled his eyes. "It's face paint!"

Neji groaned softly and Kiba felt an arm brush his, which most probably meant that the other teen was moving his arm to grab at his- most likely- pounding head.

"I have just woken up... And I already regret doing so..." Neji mumbled softly, which made Kiba smirk softly and kick once more at Kankuro.

"It's not my fault! It's all Kankuro's fault!" He stated, all the while drowning out Kankuro's yelp of pain as Kiba's foot made contact with his stomach once more.

"Stop hitting me!" Kankuro growled, which made Kiba turn to him with a frown.

"Why don't you just move from where you are? That way I won't hit you anymore."

The dog nin could then hear Kankuro begin to grumble about lousy mutts and stupid missions, which made him snicker softly. He enjoyed messing with Kankuro. Of course, he hated it when Kankuro did it to him, but... Eh. That's the way the cookie crumbled.

"Yo, Neji, what happened?" Kiba asked as he turned in the direction Neji sat in once more, even though he really couldn't see anything in the darkness. "Why are we stuck in this place?"

"This place?" Neji repeated dumbly, then seemed to take account of his surroundings. "How can you be so stupid? You are just sitting around, arguing with the idiot with make up on his face, and haven't even tried to break free of wherever we are?" Neji hissed, anger creeping into his usually calm voice.

"Yeah..." Kiba answered, "I have no idea how many more people are around us and if I tried Fang Over Fang to break free, I could end up hurting someone... Speaking of my jutsu... Where's Akamaru?"

It had taken him way too long to notice that he didn't have any extra weight around his body. No extra weight meant no Akamaru. Oh, he really hoped the pup wasn't around to find out that his master had forgotten about him for a second.

"I haven't seen your pup, mutt." Kankuro growled out once more, then stated, "But it's not like we can see much."

Suddenly, much to the inconvenience of the three awoken teens, lights turned on all around him and chased away the darkness they were accustomed to. All three males hissed in pain as the light burned into their eyes, eyes shutting tightly to try and protect themselves.

"It seems three have awoken, Lord Orochimaru." Kiba heard faintly, which distracted him enough from the burning of his eyes so he could listen on what was going on.

Lord Orochimaru? Oh, this was bad.

"I can see, Kabuto." A hissed voice answered back, making shivers run down Kiba's back.

That voice was _not_ kind. But it _was_ creepy.

"Prepare the experimentation room for the first boy."

"Of course, my Lord. Who shall be experimented on first?"

There was a beat of silence between both voices and Kiba strained to hear what was going on, all the while he ignored Kankuro's growls and curses and Neji's uncomfortable silence. Then Orochimaru spoke up once more. "I shall allow them to choose who shall be the first to go. Just prepare everything you can without their DNA."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

Then Kiba heard footsteps begin to go away, all the while another set began to walk closer to them.

"Ow! My head hurts! What happened? This is all Kiba's fault, isn't it?! Kiba! You did this!"

Unfortunately, Naruto seemed to have woken up.

Kiba sighed softly at this, then turned away from eavesdropping and looked at the three teens around him. Kankuro was still lying on his side in front of him, clutching at the stomach Kiba had abused, and Neji was seated to Kiba's left. Naruto, who Kiba would not have missed at all if he were to be taken first by Orochimaru, was lying down on his back behind Kankuro. Shikamaru, the only member of their squad that had yet to wake up, was sitting down beside Neji and snoring softly.

They were in a small white room that allowed not much space between them, and it had no openings in it other than a door, which was parallel to the wall Kiba, Shikamaru, and Neji were sat against.

Suddenly the door flew open, hitting a shocked Naruto on its way, and a pasty, snake-like, and very weird guy stood in its place.

"I see you are awake." He spoke in a hissed manner, and Kiba could see a bit of tongue poke through his teeth as he used the 's' sound. "Welcome to the Village of Sound. I hope you find your stay to your liking."

"Orochimaru!" Naruto shouted out as he stood up from his spot on the floor, blue eyes glaring at the man. "Give Sasuke back!"

Kiba rolled his eyes at that comment because, really, nobody needed Sasuke, then spoke up, "Hey, you, Snake Guy! What are we doing here? Why did you kidnap us?"

Okay, he didn't know for sure if they _had_ been kidnapped, but... It was the most obvious option. It wasn't like they had all wound up in the Sound of their own accord.

The man's smile was feral as he looked from Naruto over to Kiba. His slitted eyes spoke of nothing nice to the young boy.

"You are here for experiments, child. You shall prove to be my brand new entertainment."

Kiba blinked at him for a second, then shook his head. "Great. He's insane. Guys, we're stuck with an insane snake."

Naruto frowned at Kiba, all the while Neji and Kankuro could only shake their heads. Shikamaru merely continued to snore.

"Alright, children, seeing how most of you are awake, I shall give you the choice of who of you shall be the first to be experimented on."

"The hell?" Kankuro asked, finally sitting up to glare at the snake man. "Experimented on? Do you actually think we'd give anyone-"

"Take Kiba!" Naruto shouted, interrupting Kankuro's speech on being squad mates.

And before the dog nin could really make sense of what was happening, a crazed Naruto was at his side and pushing him towards Orochimaru. He began to struggle, but it proved to be too late because he was cut off by two snakes wrapping around his body and cutting off his movements.

"The dog shall be the first to be changed?" Orochimaru asked, smirking as Naruto began to nod rapidly.

"Yup. He's all yours, Orochimaru. And don't feel afraid to hurt him. He won't be missed!"

"Naruto!" Kiba, Neji, and Kankuro all shouted, which made the blonde look at them with confusion.

"What?" He asked, looking at those around him. "Nobody even likes him!"

"I'll kill you, you stupid-!" Kiba's shouting was cut off by Orochimaru's hand clamping over his mouth.

Then the snake man smiled at the rest of the boys, "Behave. I shall be back for another in a few hours. And I shall bring you food then too."

"Make it ramen!" Naruto shouted as the door closed behind the man, then he looked at his glaring teammates. "What?"

"Did you really just throw Kiba to be experimented on? Possibly interrogated and hurt?" Neji asked, eyes narrowed at the blonde idiot.

"Yeah... So? You don't even like him!"

Instead of trying to talk sense into him, Neji merely smacked Naruto upside the head and frowned.

This would be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

Kankuro despised being stuck with Naruto. He hated the kid enough when they weren't forced to stick together, but now that he was caught inside one room with him... He was prepared to just strangle the annoying blonde.

"And I'll become the next Hokage after Granny Tsunade! Believe it!"

Those words finished off what seemed to be like the twentieth speech Naruto had given his squad and Kankuro was just about ready to grab the blonde's head and smash it against the nearest wall... Repeatedly... Until there was nothing but a bloody stump left...

Sometimes, Kankuro could be extremely violent. He blamed his terrible childhood.

"We get it, Naruto... Could you please shut up?" Shikamaru asked grumpily, yawning as he leveled Naruto with a lazy glare.

He had awoken a few hours after Naruto had thrown Kiba at Orochimaru and had seemed rather irritated when he noticed that he was stuck in a closed environment with his squadmates. Then, when he had been told of Naruto throwing Kiba at the snake nin, he had shook his head and asked out loud why Naruto had to be such an idiot.

After that, Neji had decided to keep to himself in a corner of the room, eyes closed while trying to meditate. Kankuro, after noticing that Naruto was going to be an idiot no matter how much he was threatened, had then moved to the other corner of the room with his arms crossed, hoping to try and keep himself from hurting the blonde too much. Unfortunately, even though only Shikamaru was left beside Naruto, the overactive blonde seemed intent to make all of his thoughts known to the rest of his companions.

"But Shikamaru, you need to know my plans for Konoha so you know where you fall in them!" The blonde whined with a pout forming on his lips, all the while Shikamaru rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Why don't you instead explain to me just what was going through your head when you offered Kiba up to Orochimaru?" Shikamaru sighed as he turned a lazy glare onto Naruto, all the while the blonde huffed and stuck his nose up in the air.

"Well nobody even likes dog breath, so I don't understand why you guys are making such a big fuss over this!" Konoha's number one hyperactive knucklehead pouted at Shikamaru, which made the Nara only shake his head with a sigh.

"Naruto, we're a team. You're not supposed to hand one of your teammates over to the bad guy just because you don't like him." He explained softly, then turned over to Neji. "And how did you guys not stop him?"

"He moved too fast for us to really stop it from happening, pineapple head." Kankuro grouched from his spot, arms crossed and frown in place. "The mutt didn't stand a chance..." Then he muttered to himself, "And with him went our one chance of hearing what was going on outside..."

"We don't need dog breath, believe it!"

Hearing that damned phrase once more made Kankuro's fist tighten and he swore to himself if Naruto dared say it again, he would knock the blonde's teeth so far down his throat he'd-

The door to their comfortable cell opened up just then, interrupting Kankuro's inner monologue. Once more Orochimaru stood in the doorway with a sick smile in place, all the while he had five containers of what the make up wearing puppeteer inferred to be food.

"Children, I have brought your food!" He announced, pointing at the containers. "Ramen, as Naruto asked."

Moving away from the door, the four teens now stood together and glared at the snake nin, eyes narrowed and bodies tensed.

"Why are there five?" Neji asked coldly, keeping his body in a fighting stance in case Orochimaru tried anything.

This made the long haired man smile and he giggled slightly, "Oh, I just decided that it would be good for you to see the fruits of my labor with the young Inuzuka boy." Then he turned his head to the side and called, "Kabuto! Bring the pup!"

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Was heard from the outside, then the four teens could hear keys clicking, chains jangling, and finally, Kiba's shouts.

"You dirty son of a bitch! What did you do to me? Naruto, I'm going to fucking murder you!"

The boy's yells of anger continued as he was brought back into the room, but Orochimaru paid little mind to that. "Now, you must decide who shall be the next to be experimented on as you eat. Once you are done, I will return to pick up the containers and the next subject, okay?" His voice was somewhat high pitched at the end, and Kankuro could tell he was more than eager to experiment on them, even if they didn't agree to it.

"We're not giving anyone up this time, Orochimaru." Kankuro stepped forward with a glare, shaking his fist at the man. "Naruto is a retard, but this time we're prepared to stop him from causing any more damage."

The slight promise to stop Naruto from doing anything idiotic made Orochimaru quirk an eyebrow, then he turned to look at Naruto.

"Would you like me to take this one now?"

Shikamaru sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Like we said, Orochimaru-"

And he was about to reiterate being able to stop Naruto from throwing any of them at the snake man, but was stopped when he found Naruto pushing a caught off guard Kankuro over at Orochimaru.

"Naruto!" Neji hissed all the while Kankuro stumbled to try and regain his footing.

"What? First dog breath and now make up guy! I'm just bettering our chances of escaping, you guys!" Naruto explained as he muscled Kankuro into Orochimaru's awaiting arms, the snake nin smiling broadly at this.

Much like how it happened to Kiba, Kankuro found himself being wrapped up in snakes after Naruto pushed him and he turned his most vicious glare at the blonde genin.

"When I get back, Naruto, I swear I'll rip out your-" But his threat was cut off by Orochimaru's hand clasping over it, all the while he smiled at the other genin in the room.

"You have proven to not be such a nuisance, Naruto. Good job." He congratulated the blonde, then extended his left arm to drop the food containers in the teen's awaiting hands. "I hope you enjoy the food."

Then he turned around and walked away with Kankuro, leaving the door open behind him. Neji and Shikamaru both readied their bodies to bolt out of the room, but soon enough Kabuto and an enraged and yelling Kiba appeared, cutting off any form of escape.

Even though he was extremely pissed off and wasn't wearing his over-sized jacket anymore, Kiba seemed just about the same. He still had his red triangles on his face, there weren't any new injuries to find, and there weren't any other visible changes to the boy that would normally be found after a torture session. This greatly confused all of the teens left in the room, but before they could ask what had happened, Kiba noticed just where he was.

"Naruto!" Kiba's eyes narrowed at the sight of the hungry blonde that had thrown him into the experimentation, immediately beginning to struggle against Kabuto's hands to be able to kill his fellow genin.

"Now, now, Kiba, you know that you cannot kill Naruto." Kabuto scolded softly as he held on tightly to the young Inuzuka, then pulled him against his chest and patted softly at the boy's head.

Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto were all surprised to see that instead of enraging the wild teen further, the older boy's ministrations actually seemed to calm him. Kiba's eyes began to blink slower and seemed to get heavier, and his mouth gaped slightly as Kabuto continued to pet at his head.

"Who's a good Kiba?" Kabuto asked with a soft smile, ruffling his head for good measure before stepping forward and dragging Kiba's body into the room. "You are."

The smile Kiba gave Kabuto then was warm and filled with honesty, which made Shikamaru really begin to worry about what they had done to his fellow Shinobi.

"Why don't you sit down, Kiba?" He asked the boy, who immediately sat at his feet and... Was he really rubbing his cheek against Kabuto's leg?

Shikamaru, Neji, and Naruto all stood staring at their friend's odd actions in shock, fear, and slight disgust, all the while Kabuto patted Kiba's head three more times for good measure before looking up at the surprised males.

"Don't act so surprised, you know the effects torture could have on you." The glasses wearing teen smirked at them, "Just prepare yourselves for when this happens to you."

Then he turned around and walked out of the room, giving one final, "Be good, Kiba." before he closed the door behind him and left the four boys alone.

They were all left in silence after Kabuto had left, neither of the three that had not been taken sure of how to react with Kiba's odd behavior. All the while Kiba sat in the same spot Kabuto had placed him, his eyes closed complacently and a soft smile on his head.

And in the silence of the room, Shikamaru swore he heard... But, it couldn't be. That didn't make any sense. There weren't any cats around... Unless...

The Nara's dark eyes widened and he looked at Kiba closely, then noticed that the odd sound was rising and falling in perfect synchronization with Kiba's own breaths.

"Kiba?" Shikamaru gulped as he took one step towards the Inuzuka, who's head snapped up at the sound of his name.

The odd sound continued, albeit a bit less intense now.

"Are you..." The pony tailed youth's words stumbled for a moment, then he shook his head and continued. "Kiba, are you... Are you _purring?"_


	4. Chapter 4

Kiba stared at Shikamaru with wide eyes, but the odd noise continued.

"What do you mean?" The dog nin asked curiously, looking up at Shikamaru with nothing but confusion in those large eyes.

But, instead of answering, Shikamaru only looked on at the Inuzuka with an analytical eye and ear. Even with Kiba looking at him confused, the sound that originated from his body still continued, albeit fainter than before.

Fortunately for Kiba's confusion, Neji answered instead of Shikamaru. "Kiba, you were purring. Your body is emanating the noise a cat makes when it is comfortable and happy." The Hyuga explained bluntly, his cold eyes gazing calmly at the Inuzuka.

"What?" Kiba asked, eyebrows knitting at the odd words that left his teammate's mouth.

The didn't make any sense. Him? Purring?

"Maybe you guys were experimented on and not me..." Kiba mumbled softly as he looked at the three males before him, "Because you may have just gone crazy if you think an Inuzuka is purring."

"You idiot!" Naruto's insult burst from him without any problem and he was soon standing right in front of Kiba, poking him harshly in the chest. "You're the one that was taken by Orochimaru and experimented on! And you're the one that is making the weird noise in the room!"

The purring noise that had ruled over the silence in the room ceased as soon as Naruto began speaking, showing how disdainful Kiba truly was of the blonde.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Kiba growled as he smacked the blonde's poking finger away, "If it hadn't been for you betraying me, I wouldn't have been experimented on!"

"Oh yeah?" Naruto shouted back, moving his hands to grip at his hips as Kiba crossed his own arms over his chest. "Well if it hadn't been for you being such an idiot and fighting me, then we wouldn't ever be in this mess!"

Kiba sneered at the blonde's words, taking on step forward. "Really? You're blaming _me_ for us having gotten caught!?"

Naruto took one step forward as well, shoving his face right into Kiba's. "Yeah, I am! If you weren't so annoying, I wouldn't have to yell at you, now would I?"

"Well if you weren't such a jackass, I wouldn't have to correct you!"

And on the argument continued between Kiba and Naruto, both much too angry to even remember there were two other people in the room.

Shikamaru, noticing that nothing would be able to stop the two from going at each other's throats, simply sighed and sat down, pulling the containers of food towards him. Neji looked down at him with a confused look in his eyes, but the Nara only shrugged as he began to open one of the containers of food up.

"They're going to fight and I'm hungry. Might as well enjoy the show, Neji." He explained simply, then picked up a pair of chopsticks and began to eat from his ramen.

Neji, after a few seconds of taking the other's words into consideration, decided to sit down as well and eat. There would be no stopping Kiba and Naruto now that they had began to fight. And even though he really did not want to be stuck listening to even more of their arguing, he knew that trying to stop them would end up with him with an even greater headache and with them annoyed with _him and each other._

As he had once heard Kakashi say... If you can't beat 'em, ignore 'em 'til they passed out from being idiots.

It was as Shikamaru and Neji had begun to finish eating their food that Naruto and Kiba both noticed what the other two members of their squad had chosen to do.

"Shikamaru? Neji? Are you two really eating from the food Orochimaru brought?" Kiba asked, actually surprised by this, all the while Naruto reacted differently.

"How could you start eating ramen without telling me?" The blonde shouted suddenly, then immediately threw himself at the floor to grab at the rest of the food.

"Naruto!" Kiba and Neji both scolded as the blonde literally hit himself against the wall to just grab at the bag of food, all the while Shikamaru breathed out heavily and shook his head.

Naruto was such an idiot.

"My precious ramen!" Naruto ignored the three other males, moving to begin to eat from his food.

Noticing that for the next precious minutes the boy would be too preoccupied with eating to bother them, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kiba decided to get together and speak.

"So, what did they do to you?" Shikamaru asked softly as the three huddled together, the room around them being filled with the noise of Naruto eating sloppily.

Kiba bristled at the disgusting sound from the blonde, but shook his head and looked at the only chunin around them. "I'm not all that sure, actually... I think I must have been knocked out for whatever they did. But they didn't interrogate me or anything." He told the other two with slight confusion pulling at his features, "It was real weird, actually... There was barely any pain. But I do remember Orochimaru saying something about DNA and animals... Whatever that might mean."

Both Shikamaru and Neji's faces were pulled in in thought, both trying to piece together the puzzle they had been presented with.

"What could that mean? No torture, no interrogation, just experimentation..." Neji muttered softly, then looked at Shikamaru. "I do not like whatever is happening here."

"Nobody does, Neji." Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head. "And have you noticed just how creep Orochimaru is acting? He's treating us like guests rather than prisoners... And the way Kiba reacted to Kabuto."

At the reminder of how pliant he had been with the traitor, Kiba's face flushed and his cheeks brightened. But he shook his head and tried to ignore the fact that he had acted so weird and spoke up.

"Whatever experiment they did on me, they're doing to Kankuro now and are going to do to the rest of you. And if you don't things to get any worse, we're going to have to think up of a plan to escape."

Neji nodded, "That is true... But what repercussions could this experiment have on you, Kiba? What if it begins to kill you?"

Paling at the idea, Kiba tried to put on a brave front and smiled at both teens before him. "Then we'll beat the cure out of Orochimaru... Now, what we really have to worry about is the knucklehead himself. If he gave me and Kankuro up to be experimented on, I wouldn't be surprised if he does the same to either of you."

Shikamaru closed his eyes and hung his head, "I know... And Neji and I cannot allow ourselves to be taken just yet, not if we want some chance to come up with an escape plan..."

"So it is decided." Neji turned to look at Naruto, who was enjoying a second container of food. "Naruto shall be the next to be taken by Orochimaru."

Kiba huffed and crossed his arms with a nod, "Serves him right." all the while Shikamaru sighed once more, "So troublesome..."

Naruto, in the mean time, had been completely oblivious to his teammates talking about him behind his back and coming up with the plan to throw him at Orochimaru when he next appeared. He had been too busy eating his ramen for that. Then he had been busy eating Kankuro's. Then he had been too busy eating Kiba's. By the time he had finished eating, he looked up to see his friends sitting on the other side of the room, all in different levels of alertness.

Shikamaru, of course, had his eyes closed and seemed to be dozing. Neji, on the other hand, sat up with his spine straight and his eyes narrowed at the door, apparently alert and focused on whoever came to the door next. And Kiba sat in a mix of alertness and doziness, his eyes drooping every now and then but his shoulders straight and tensed.

"That was some good ramen!" Naruto cheered after he finished eating, getting Kiba's attention. Then he smiled deviously at the dog nin and picked up an empty container. "Orochimaru had brought you some with steak, Kiba!"

Ears perking up at the sound of his favorite meat, Kiba felt anger begin to stir within him once more. "Naruto! You bastard!" He shouted in a pure rage, then jumped the blonde idiot before anyone in the room could try to stop him.

With his nails and teeth elongated, Kiba began to scratch and bite at Naruto, causing the attacked genin to scream out in surprise and pain. Sure, the swipes weren't all that bad, but they still hurt!

"Kiba! Get off of me!" Naruto yelled out as they both rolled around on the floor, all the while Kiba scratched at his face.

"You cost me my chance at chunin, then throw me at Orochimaru, and finally eat my steak!?" Kiba roared, ignoring the fact that this was his teammate he was acting. "I'm going to fucking kill you, Uzumaki!"

"Kiba!" Neji shouted as he stood up to try and stop the two idiots, "Let go of the blonde knucklehead."

Shikamaru's eye opened lazily at the sounds of scuffling and fighting, then he groaned loudly at the sight of Kiba and Naruto fighting once more. "Can you two not go more than ten seconds without trying to kill each other?" He grouched, only to receive shouts and yelps of pain as his answer.

Eventually after much scratching and clawing, Kiba managed to land on top of Naruto with his hands wrapped tightly around the blonde's neck. Naruto choked and his face became red and that was when Neji decided to intervene.

But how was he supposed to calm an enraged Inuzuka? That was unheard of! When an Inuzuka was angered, it was best to just let them ride their anger rather than try to stop it. But it wasn't as if he could just allow Kiba to kill Naruto. Even though the blonde was an annoying idiot, they couldn't allow him to die. It would look terrible on their mission report.

So the Hyuga thought back to when Kiba was brought in by Kabuto and had tried to kill Naruto. By the traitor holding him and patting his head, the Inuzuka had calmed and even began to purr... Maybe...

Taking a chance, Neji stood behind the Inuzuka, wrapped his arms around his waist, then began to pat at his head as he had seen Kabuto do. Kiba, at first, jostled and tried to get out of the hold, but Neji held on tight.

"Calm down, Kiba." Neji whispered softly into the other's ear, trying to ignore the blush that was fighting its way onto his face at the physical contact he had initiated. "You cannot kill Naruto."

He had never been a big fan of touching. But he knew the Inuzuka clan was. And to calm down an Inuzuka, he'd have to think like an Inuzuka.

"But, Neji..." Kiba whined, eyes struggling to stay open. "He ate my food..."

Both Naruto and Shikamaru stared wide eyed at Neji and Kiba, both much too surprised by what they were seeing to do anything but. Neji had never been the kind to even care about his teammates. Yet he had just saved one by comforting another.

This whole situation was _weird_.

"I know... I know... But you could always ask for more food..." Neji tried to calm his racing heart as he breathed in Kiba's scent, the blush really wanting to appear on his face. "Now can you promise me you won't kill Naruto?"

And that was when the purring began and Neji couldn't hold back the embarrassment any longer. The vibrations that came from Kiba's body ran along Neji's own and made him feel oddly comfortable.

"Mm hmm..." Kiba was barely able to answer as he leaned his head against Neji's shoulder, eyes closed and mouth parted slightly at the amazing sensations that came from Neji and his touches.

And if Neji said he didn't feel something at the sight, he'd be lying.

But he managed to calm himself enough to turn one glare to Naruto and scold him. "You rile him up again and I will _not_ stop him."

Naruto nodded mutely at the threat as Neji moved Kiba to rest against one of the room's walls, then looked at Shikamaru in completely shock. But Shikamaru only shook his head with a shrug at Naruto before looking once more at the other two males. Kiba had apparently decided to mold himself against Neji's body and held onto him tightly, all the while Neji struggled to stay put and not run away from Kiba.

"Taking one for the team..." Shikamaru breathed out, then shook his head and looked at Naruto. "Stop being such an idiot."

After he said this, the four fell into silence, the only noise between them being the purrs that came from Kiba's comforted frame.

When Orochimaru next came around, he found the four in that state and couldn't help but smirk at the noise that filled the room. His experiment was going according to plan. First the Inuzuka had been changed and now the puppeteer was being awoken.

"Was your lunch good?" The snake man asked he took one step into the room, making three glares turn to him, even though one set of eyes just looked at him dazedly.

Oh, yes, the Inuzuka had been the right choice for that set of DNA. He looked just amazing curled up against the Hyuga and perfectly comforted.

"I didn't get any..." Kiba muttered softly, bringing himself closer to Neji's body while the Hyuga tried his best to not shift away. "Naruto ate mine..."

Orochimaru quirked an eyebrow at the lazy drawl from the boy, then looked at Naruto with a soft glare. "That was not nice, Naruto. You shall have to be punished for that."

"What?" Naruto bristled at the idea, but before he could move, Orochimaru's snakes had wrapped around him and he was brought to the man's chest. "No! I don't want to die! Shikamaru! Neji! Help me!"

Neji glared at the blonde and shook his head. "I cannot... I am calming Kiba." He stated simply before having said Inuzuka shove his head into his neck.

Shikamaru, though, smirked softly, "It seems I can't help, Naruto... I'm sleeping."

The blonde stared at them for a second while Orochimaru snickered behind him, then he yelled, "You traitors! I shall be avenged! Avenged, you hear-" But was cut off by snakes wrapping around his mouth.

After Naruto was secured, Orochimaru smiled at Kiba and got a smile back from the boy. "I shall bring you some food in a minute. And some for Kankuro as well. It seems Naruto was hungrier than expected."

"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru!" Kiba called as he stretched himself over Neji's lap, apparently not even noticing what he had said or done.

His actions worried both Shikamaru and Neji a lot.

But at least now they didn't have a loud blonde yelling over their thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

Neji ended up trapped beneath a purring Inuzuka for quite some time. The boy curled up into him without any qualms whatsoever, a content smile on his face, and Neji felt conflicted about the whole situation.

The Inuzuka was _not_ supposed to be cute.

But if he wasn't supposed to seem adorable, then why did Neji feel the uncharacteristic need to coddle him when he looked down at him? Why did he feel like smiling softly when he caught sight of the boy's own content smile?

It was annoying to suddenly begin to feel strongly. And it made no sense whatsoever.

The Hyuga's eyes narrowed as the Inuzuka seemed to curl up even further into his body, mumbling softly in his dreams. There was no reason for him to seem cute. Yet there he was, on Neji's lap, looking like the very image one would find under a dictionary's definition of cute and/or adorable.

"No, Lord Orochimaru... That's _my_ candy..."

Just... Just what kind of odd dream was Kiba having?

The boy scooched closer to Neji, pressing his face into Neji's stomach, which made the pale eyed boy gasp slightly and glare down at him. All the while he fought off the blush that wanted to come onto his face.

"Well, maybe you can have a lick of it... But just _one_."

Seriously, were fever dreams of the creepy snake nin side effects of the experiments? If they were, Neji _really_ didn't want to become one of the test subjects! It was already freaky enough that Kiba had somehow become cute. He didn't want to start thinking of Orochimaru in any way other than that creepy enemy they were all supposed to hate.

When he glanced up at Shikamaru, Neji noticed that the Nara had decided to take yet another nap. Which didn't surprise him at all, considering just how much he enjoyed sleeping and avoiding any and all of his responsibilities.

Why didn't he too take this moment of silence to actually get some rest? After all, when Kankuro and Naruto were brought back, there would be no way that they'd be able to sleep at all.

With this thought, the Hyuga sighed, made himself a bit more comfortable as he rested against the wall, and closed his eyes.

* * *

When Neji next awoke, he found Kiba sitting up beside him with a pleased smile on his face. This immediately worried the pale eyed boy and he looked around the room to see just what the boy had broken, only to find that nothing had changed. The only change was that Shikamaru was now laying down on the floor, but that was it. Nothing was broken. Nothing had been destroyed. But Kiba was smiling... _Why?_

"You know, this isn't that bad." The boy remarked suddenly, making Neji look at him. "Free food, actual care... All I'm missing is Akamaru and I could be happy here for the rest of my life."

"Kiba, this is not you talking. These are the effects of the experimentation done on you. You do _not_ want to stay in here." Neji told him softly, only to have the Inuzuka shrug at him.

"Eh, who knows? For some reason, I don't feel like arguing with you on that. Odd, huh?"

Extremely so.

Kiba enjoyed arguing as much as Naruto or Kankuro did. Especially when someone blatantly told him he was wrong. On a normal day, the boy would get into at least ten different arguments with whoever dared question his might.

But now... Why was he not arguing? Why was he just listening to Neji's own words?

Before he could ask Kiba if he was feeling alright, the door to the room opened once more. Kankuro stood there with Orochimaru behind him, but he looked different. His face didn't have purple face paint on it anymore. Instead there were black rings circling his eyes, and two black lines ran from his eyebrows up to his forehead. He wasn't wearing his hood anymore, but, aside from all of that, he looked just about the same.

"The experimentation on Kankuro was successful." Orochimaru called out with a smile as he motioned for the boy to enter the room, which he did without too much hesitation. "And I brought you the food Naruto took away from you, Kiba."

Upon hearing his name, something on Kiba's head twitched. Neji couldn't see exactly what, but he saw the movement and was confused by it.

"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru!" The Inuzuka jumped up and ran to the man with a broad smile, only to hug him tightly and grab at the food. "Come on, Kankuro. Lord Orochimaru brought us food."

Okay, now Neji knew that something was really off with the younger boy. He had called Kankuro by his actual name. He _never_ used the older teen's name. Only called him derogatory nicknames.

"I should be bringing a less annoying Naruto along in a few hours." The man informed Neji, keeping his eyes on the pale youth. "After he has settled in and you have all rested up, we shall go on a small fieldtrip." Then the man looked at the two boy's he had experimented on and smiled softly. "Oh, it's great when a plan comes together, is it not?"

The words managed to chill Neji to his very bone. But Kiba and Kankuro weren't affected by them at all. If anything, they were reassured by the odd words. And Neji knew this from the way they smiled up at the snake Sannin, only to have him wave back before he left and closed the door behind him.

Neji didn't like this at all.

Why was Orochimaru being so kind? Why had he experimented on just three of them, even though he'd promised that they would all have their chances? Why were they going to be taken on a fieldtrip? And just what had he done to Kankuro and Kiba to make them act like actual, _decent_ human beings? That was supposed to be impossible to do!

Shikamaru was still asleep so he couldn't deliberate with the other somewhat competent member of their team. So Neji was forced to ponder on everything that had happened and would happen alone.

Or, at least he had been until Kiba and Kankuro made their way over to him. And when they did, with their food still in their hands, they made themselves comfortable against either of his side, cuddling into him.

This time around he wasn't able to stop the bright red color his face became.


	6. Chapter 6

"Since when do Kankuro and Kiba have tails?"

When he heard Shikamaru speak up for the first time in hours, Neji was surprised. The teenager didn't sound groggy, like one would expect from someone that had just woken up like he had. But maybe he was still dreaming because what he said made no sense.

"Shikamaru, you're still sleeping. Be quiet."

But when the Hyuga looked up at Shikamaru, whom he expected to still be asleep, he found that the Nara was glaring over at him.

"My eyes are fine, Neji. And I am not sleeping, I am very much awake. And if you were to look at the people currently cuddling you, you would find that my question did not come about from a dream induced haze."

Caught off guard by the severity and sternness of the other's words, Neji decided to humor him and look at the boys that were currently sleeping to either side of him. They had both finished eating their food and left the containers on the floor beside them.

Kiba was curled up tightly into him, holding onto Neji's right arm with a soft smile on his face as his head rested on the Hyuga's chest. And Kankuro had settled himself into the boy's left, head nestled into the nook between Neji's neck and shoulder, body splayed out in a very uncomfortable looking position.

But Neji, after noting these things that were completely normal, noticed something that was so abnormal that he had to do a double take and make sure that he hadn't imagined what he thought he had imagined.

"And ears, too. But they're different ones." Shikamaru noted, eyes narrowed as he looked at the boys cuddling up to Neji. "Kiba's are the same color as his hair. But Kankuro's are gray and black... Like a raccoon's..."

With a soft frown pulling at the corner of his lips, Neji turned a glare on Shikamaru. "I do not need you to narrate what I am seeing, Shikamaru."

The Nara looked back at him with an almost disinterested frown, then looked back at Kiba. The Inuzuka had shifted slightly in his sleep and now had his head pushing up against Neji's neck, nuzzling into it. And at the movement, Neji's face threatened to redden up once more.

He did not understand why these two had taken to hanging onto him. He was the one person he would never have expected for people to want to cuddle with, simply because of his aloof attitude. Yet they seemed to have no trouble or hesitations about being so close to him.

A slick black cat tail was wrapped around Kiba's tail, flickering ever so slightly in his sleep. And two very clear, rather fuzzy, cat ears sprouted from the top of his head. It was impossible to deny that those things were there. But it made no sense. Kiba was a human being. And humans weren't supposed to have cat body parts attached to their own body.

And Kankuro had what was undeniably a raccoon's ringed tail sprouting from his own back, with small pointed ears jutting out from his own brown hair.

"Maybe Orochimaru pumped some type of hallucinogenic gas into this room while we were asleep. That could be the reason why we think we're seeing those things." Neji murmured hypothetically, only to have Shikamaru shake his head.

"Doubt it. Even with Kiba being all weird now, he'd have alerted us if there was anything funky in the air." The Nara reasoned, then stood up from the floor, stretched his back, and walked over to Neji and the other two boys.

Crouching down in front of all three of them, the Nara's eyes narrowed as he examined both Kankuro and Kiba. Then, with eyes shining with complete determination and curiosity, the dark haired boy raised his right hand and brought it up to Kiba's head. Then he softly pinched at the fluffy ear at the top of his head, running his digits over faintly.

It twitched in his hands and Kiba shifted softly beside Neji. But the boy soon settled, nestling himself even further into the Hyuga's body without any problem about it.

"It's real alright." Shikamaru nodded, then pulled softly at it, which made Kiba's head be tugged along with it.

And this certainly woke the boy up.

With a hiss and a wild swipe of his right hand, Kiba jumped away from both Neji and Shikamaru. And while he reacted rather dramatically, his wild swipe managed to connect with Shikamaru's hand, cutting the boy minutely.

"The hell was that for? Who the fuck gets off on pulling my hair?!" He shouted out in pure anger, finally showing Neji the Inuzuka fire he had been lacking since he had been brought back by Kabuto. "Who did it?! Which one of you bastards was it?!"

Shikamaru glared back at him, bringing his hand back towards himself to then inspect at the small lines of blood. "You didn't have to cut me, Kiba."

"So you were the jerk?!" Kiba was riled up now, sneering at Shikamaru to take a step towards him. "You didn't have to be a jerk and pull my hair! You could have woken me up like a normal person!"

"Kiba, there's a reason as to why I pulled on your ear."

At the odd word, the boy's anger evaporated, replaced by curiosity. And this was odd. Considering how Kiba had barely ever been able to keep a lid on his anger before, it was not normal to see him allow it to fizzle out. He wouldn't have allowed this to happen before. Not even for curiosity.

"My ear? Shika, I think you're losing it. You pulled on my _hair_."

"No. Your new ear." Shikamaru answered, "But you won't be able to see it. You'll need a mirror to understand." Then he turned to Kankuro, raising his hand to repeat the procedure on the puppeteer.

But Neji smacked the Nara's hand away, sending a glare in his direction. And when Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow in confusion, he said, "You already had enough of an experiment pulling on Kiba. And look where that got you. Kankuro is a thousand times more explosive than him and I don't really feel like having to stop him from trying to kill you."

"What experiment?"

Suddenly Kiba was right beside Neji once more, hands splayed in between both of his legs without any worry about personal boundaries.

Once more the blush threatened to rise in his cheeks. But, ignoring that sensation, Neji focused on the ears over Kiba's head. They actually twitched in slight excitement, just like his tail stood up straight.

But before he could notice the odd features that Kankuro had sprouted overnight, or before Shikamaru could explain what had happened, the door to the room opened once more.

This time around Orochimaru stepped fully into the room, a huge smile on his face as he looked down at Kiba.

"How are both my perfect boys?" He asked, which made the Inuzuka immediately jump up and run over to him.

"Lord Orochimaru! You're back!"

And just like it had stood erect with confusion and curiosity, the boy's tail began to swish around sporadically in excitement. And Neji felt somewhat sick at the fact that he was so excited for the man that had kidnapped them and was currently holding them against their will.

"That I am, my boy." The snake nin raised his hand to pet the top of Kiba's head, which made the boy nuzzle into the touch. "And how have you been, my little kitten?"

"Silly Lord Orochimaru!" Kiba's smile could have lit up the whole room. "I'm an Inuzuka. We're known for dogs, not cats!"

"True, true." The man conceded, then wrapped an arm around Kiba and walked him over to his three friends. "And how are you two? Kankuro is still asleep, though. Pity."

They lapsed into a silence then. And that was when they began to hear the sound of Kiba purring once more.

It didn't make any sense to see him so calm and content with Orochimaru holding him. It must have been a side effect from the experimentation done on him. It was the only true explanation for it.

Orochimaru's smirk widened at hearing the noises emanating from the Inuzuka, then his eyes zeroed in on Kankuro. He seemed to contemplate the boy for a second but said nothing. Instead he looked at Neji, and said, "Did they behave?"

Neji merely glared back at the snake nin. He refused to have any sort of dialogue with a madman like this.

Kiba, on the other hand, had no problem.

"I may have gotten a bit angry when Shikamaru pulled my hair." He admitted, pouting softly, then smiled. "But I've been really good aside from that, Lord Orochimaru!"

Once more the man raised his hand to pet Kiba's head, ruffling his hair.

"That is perfectly understandable, kitten. As long as you don't harm anyone, I will not see a need to punish you."

It sickened Neji to see him so cozied up to the slick and slithery man. But before he could tell the boy to get away from him, Orochimaru was speaking once more.

"I have decided to change my plans one final time. You will be reunited with Naruto once I have relocated you. After your field trip."

"What? You said you'd bring him back before that!" Kiba questioned, although he seemed much too happy at the thought of Naruto not coming back as soon as they had believed. "That's great, Lord Orochimaru!"

"Kiba!"

"What? The guy's a jerk."

Shikamaru glared at the Inuzuka, then looked at Orochimaru. "Listen, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but we're the wrong people to try and play it with."

The man only smirked over at the Nara. "Are you so sure?" Then he motioned at Kiba and Kankuro. "For it seems that both your friends are pretty fine with playing with me."

Shikamaru glared at the man. And Neji's eyes narrowed. But before either of them could even think of making a move against him, Orochimaru was turning around and taking Kiba with him outside of the door.

"Please, wake Kankuro up and follow me. I believe we should start this field trip off as soon as possible to help you get accommodated in your new living arrangements."

"Living arrangements?" Shikamaru, Kiba, and Neji all questioned at the same time, only to have the man smile broadly at all of them.

The man stopped walking just shy of the door and smirked back at all of them. "Yes. Living arrangements. For I cannot keep you all in this dreary old room, now can I?" He asked, then ruffled Kiba's hair and walked out completely.

Neji rushed to wake Kankuro up. Then, with a groggy, somewhat confused, and kind of grouchy puppeteer, the three teens ran after Orochimaru and Kiba.


End file.
